I'm Ready
by eloquentgraffitti
Summary: Sexy and light hearted...season 9 Japril re-imagined ;)
1. Chapter 1

"I don't know what to do, tell me what to do!" April Kepner paced the attending's lounge distractedly, coffee in hand and gesturing wildly.

"Ah, Kepner, tackling the conundrum-of-the-day with your regular freak out are we?"

Christina Yang, formerly a resident surgeon of Grey Sloan Memorial and current cardio fellow at The Mayo Clinic, popped up on Merdeith Grey's ipad, munching a cookie and looking only mildly interested in what was going on.

"So…April's promised Jesus that she's gonna re-virginize, and she's looked Justin Timberlake in the eye and told him she's ready to recommit."

Meredith Grey took entirely too much pleasure in updating her best friend of the latest hospital gossip, April thought resentfully as Yang dissolved into a cackling fit.

"You see Yang, you don't get it, J.C and J.T both have a stake in this now, she can't let them down."

This time it was Alex Karev, paeds fellow, dubbed "evil spawn" by Christina Yang and usually the bane of April's existence, who butted in from the couch, half asleep.

"Yeah, even though _J.A_ – dammit all to hell- is a damn fine specimen and April can't stop fantasizing about _his_ rippling abs."

Meredith continued, while Karev snickered.

"You know Kepner, you should think about giving this guy A.K a try, pretty sure he could put J.C. JT and J.A _all_ to shame."

Karev cracked one eye open, wriggling his eyebrow suggestively and making both Christina and Meredith crack up.

April glared. "That's it, no more talking in initials and-"

"I don't know, evil spawn, have you seen that Jesus guy shirtless though, I mean he's always flaunting it about. Talk about some washboard abs."

Christina interrupted April's outburst, looking thoughtful.

"Come to think of it, no wonder Kepner's so obsessed with him. _I'd_ jump his bones any day."

"Christina!" April sputtered. "That- that's – that is…is blasphemy! "You"- she pointed a finger at the cardio attending's face, her own face scrunched up in disgust – "are going straight to hell!"

"Oh, I have no doubt, I hear I'm on their VIP list."

Of course, only Yang would have the audacity to actually look proud while making a statement like that. April huffed, having had enough of the three other attendings and turning around to head towards the door. She stopped short in her tracks when Jackson suddenly walked in, gym bag in one hand and iced tea in the other.

"Well, speak of the devil…" murmered Mer, and April turned around again to shoot the trio of friends her death glare, daring them to say something.

"Ooh, ooh, Mer, I need a good view, I need a good view, hold me up!"

At the sound of Christina's unmistakable voice coming through from the ipad, April gritted her teeth, desperately searching for a way to skip the awkwardness that was about to ensue. Jackson's gaze, which had been trained on April so far, thankfully focused on Christina at that point and April grabbed at the moment to quickly make her exit.

Jackson, rolling his eyes internally at April's not so inconspicuous avoidance tactics – he'd been trying to catch her eye all day yesterday, in fact, and she'd been giving him the slip – bent down to greet the cardio attending at eye level while walking into the room.

"Sup Yang, what's the body count so far?"

"So far? Zero, zilch, nada. I am Cardio-God. Bow before me, mere mortal."

Jackson really did roll his eyes this time, cracking a grin at Yang's unabashed arrogance and walking over to the table to pick up some of his patient files while dropping his gym bag carelessly on the floor.

"And by the way, Avery, boy do you and Kepner need to sort out your issues."

Christina, of course, wasted no time in getting straight to the point and Jackson looked up from the file he had been flipping through, instantly on the defensive.

"Yeah? 'Cuz you and Hunt are doing so good?" He fired back, and Yang actually looked taken aback, having been caught by surprise.

Truth was that hospital gossip was quick to spread, and if everyone knew by now that there was something going on between him and April, then Yang shouldn't be surprised at all by the fact that people have been talking about her and Hunt.

"Touche, Avery, touché."

"Bet Kepner thinks I'm hot too." Alex said suddenly, and Jackson looked at the other man, frowning.

"What?"

"I mean, she did almost end up giving her virginity to me"

Alex continued, ignoring Jackson and feigning a look of being deep in thought - an obvious ploy to ruffle Jackson's feathers, to which Christina caught on almost instantly.

"Oh yeah, remember when Kepner almost let Karev deflower her?" She piped up gleefully, making Mer chuckle and Alex guffaw loudly.

Jackson scowled, uncharacteristically losing his cool in the face of the usual ribbing he got from the three other surgeons.

"Don't even think about it Karev."

He muttered darkly to the paeds fellow before snatching up his files and striding out of the attending's lounge, frown still attached firmly to his forehead.

* * *

He kept an eye out for April as he went about his day, getting more and more impatient as he caught no sight of her. Ever since he had blown up at her about "trying to pretend like they never happened" and Mer had caught on to their little act in the OR, April had made it a point to avoid him like he was the SARS virus

And he would be lying if he said that it wasn't getting increasingly frustrating. He didn't like that things were still unresolved between them, he needed closure. He wasn't used to being around April and not talking to her. The problem though was that every time he so much as looked at her, his mind flashed back to a certain men's hotel bathroom in San Francisco.

And that's all it took.

Every little thing she did after that started to look sensual, and before he knew it he was fantasizing about her in lying in bed beneath him. It didn't make it any easier that every night for the past few months since she had left for Moline, _that_ one particular image had taunted at him, leaving him wide awake in the middle of the night with a raging hard-on.

He turned a corner and suddenly saw her unmistakeable form disappear into the attending's lounge and hurried up to go inside before anyone else snuck up on them.

Closing the door shut behind him, he saw her glance up casually and stiffen at the sight of him.

"Hey, so, um – I know we haven't talked much lately –" she began lamely, but Jackson didn't give her the chance to finish.

"So, we need to figure this out."

He said abruptly, sparing no time for small talk. "Because, this – he gestured between them – "isn't happening anymore. I mean, do you want us to be friends, April, or-"

"Of course!" She exclaimed, interrupting him. "Of course I want us to be friends! We _are_ friends Jackson."

She was earnest, but contradicted her words by her actions by instinctively taking a step back from Jackson when he took a step towards her.

"Okay…" Jackson said slowly, maintaining eye contact with her, purposely not letting her look away.

"So then this…other thing…between us…" he dragged out the words, and April swallowed.

"I- yes." She cleared her throat.

"A-about that." She swallowed, clamping her lips shut and shifting from one foot to the other.

Jackson raised an eyebrow. "You wanna finish that sentence April?

"I-um – I can't be around you…without – without – thinking- about - about whathappenedinseattleandeverything."

His mouth curved upwards, but he didn't comment on her amazing fast-talking skills.

"Me too." He was still maintaining eye contact with her though, and she was looking at him with those wide eyes and he knew exactly where her mind was at, because his mind was at the same place.

April closed her eyes, shutting him out. Looking at him was doing things to her, and her mind kept going back to how he looked, _naked_.

Not. Good.

"Um, um so, yeah, I can't really do that with you, because, because, Jesus, you know, and-"

"I know." His voice was soft, and she opened her own, looking at him with what he thought was something close to regret, but he couldn't be sure.

"S-so, um…what do we do?"

"We stay away from each other." Jackson answered, even though his eyes said something else entirely, goading her to debunk his plan, daring her to look away.

But she didn't, and he felt a sinking feeling as she took longer and longer to respond.

His eyes strayed to her lips while he waited for her to say something, and he licked his own, remembering how hers felt, unable to stop himself from fantasizing.

"I – I think that would work."

Jackson glanced back up, a bit jarred by the determination in her voice.

"You do." He said flatly, wary of hearing what was to come next.

"Yes." She bounced on the balls of her feet. "We- we stay away from each other, this – this – _thing_ – between us goes away – we get back to normal, it can be like it was before again. It'll be fine!"

She was sounding a little too optimistic, a little too cheery for his liking, and he couldn't help coming back with a little dig.

"So you still want to pretend nothing happened or-"

She blushed, and Jackson felt a rush of satisfaction. Good, he wanted her to feel a bit guilty. He couldn't deny that it had hurt, when she had started babbling about revirginizing and wiping the slate clean. He didn't _want_ it to be clean, he wanted his mark there, it had it's rightful place there, and her denying it wasn't going to make it magically disappear.

"No, it happened, I know it happened, and I'm not pretending it didn't happen." She said quietly.

"Good."

"But." She continued, and he closed his eyes, sighing.

He felt a tap on his chest, and opened his eyes back up to see her staring up at him defiantly, a fire to her that hadn't been there before.

"But, _you_ \- you never called me, never wrote, never said a word after I left. Not once. I mean, I didn't either, fair enough, but neither did you! Which means that I'm _not_ the only one who pretended that nothing happened, so did you! And you were completely fine with maintaining that silence. Completely."

Her voice was flat, and he didn't have a comeback for a minute.

"I'm willing to bet you'd never have contacted me if I hadn't shown up at this place anyway."

She paused. "Would you have?"

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

She turned to leave, but he grabbed at her arm, stopping her. He hadn't thought this through, hadn't even thought what to say, but he couldn't have her thinking he'd never have called her. Truth is, he didn't know what he would have done, because she had decided to show up.

"No wait – no, I didn't say that."

He sighed.

"Look, you're right okay, I didn't think of it that way. And I'm sorry, I am, I'm sorry I didn't call you, but truth is that I didn't know what to think, alright? I wanted you to wait for me and you weren't there, so I thought you had wiped your hands off us and left. Didn't want to be reminded of what had happened, wanted to leave it all behind. And so I left you alone."

"And I was a mess, April."

He was pacing now, one hand grazing his shaven head as he looked down at the floor with the characteristic frown between his brows.

"Mark had died, suddenly I didn't want to leave for Tulane, I wanted to continue with what Mark had taught me…it just, I was just getting back into the swing of things when _you_ showed up, and that threw me for a loop all over again."

He looked up.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely, this time, and April nodded, a feeling of sadness sweeping through her.

"Me too." She smiled a bit, and he smiled back.

She touched his arm. "And I'm sorry about Mark, I thought he'd be fine, you know, I'd never have left if I thought –

"I know."

They kept smiling at each other until the tension started seeping back in, and suddenly that old feeling of easy camaraderie was lost, leaving just the sexual tension behind.

"Right, well, I better – " she said lamely, and he nodded, swallowing, letting her slip past him out the door and massaging the knot in his neck that had refused to go away since she had come back.

 _ **So basically, this fic's gonna be an uncomplicated, hassle-free, light-weight sorta deal…a lot of cutesy stuff and probably not a lot of depth, lol. I'm honestly not really feeling japril right now, because the finale was a bummer, but I figure I gotta dip my toes in again somehow. Also...it probably won't be that long...maybe 3 chapters max, I made sure to have almost all of it written this time so I'll be able to update regularly and won't make you guys wait ;) lol. I know I have a bad track record of doing that. Anyway, hope you enjoy and please leave a review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks. It had been two weeks, and it was killing him. _She_ was killing him. All they had done was dance around each other, much the same as they had done _before_. And contrary to April's theory, avoiding each other _while being in the same space as each other_ was starting to seem more like foreplay rather than a way to cease and desist any and all attraction there was between them.

 _It wasn't fucking working_.

And she had to feel it too. There was no way she _wasn't_ feeling it, especially judging by how skittish she was around him.

And then _it_ happened.

They were both alone, in the elevator, coincidentally jumping in at the same time when everyone else was leaving, with no time left to jump back out. They had glanced at each other awkwardly, sexual tension as thick as the Seattle morning fog reverberating between them, and he had swallowed, clasping his hands behind his back in order to stop himself from touching her – even accidentally.

But he had seen her bite her glossy pink lips from the corner of his eye and had instinctively known what was coming next – well, _hoped_ it was coming next, more like – and he had been right. One second she was second guessing herself, and the next, she had slammed down the "hold" button on the elevator, grabbed the lapels of his lab coat and had planted one on him. And he hadn't been able to stop himself from reacting. And she had been _aggressive_ , and, and- _thorough_ was the only way he could think of to put it.

She may be inexperienced, but damn, April Kepner worked wonders with her tongue, Jackson thought as he shifted uncomfortably on the seat of his car while getting ready to drive home from the hospital, feeling the beginnings of a familiar hard-on. The hard-on which he had started, pathetically enough, calling his "April bulge". Dammit. He even had a name for it.

 _This had to end now._

* * *

April, meanwhile, was stinging with embarrassment from what had happened this morning. _How could she have let herself lose control so completely?_ But then again, the man had _no right_ walking around looking like a sinful feast. And that kiss had been _so good_. And she would be a big fat liar if she said that _that day_ didn't come back to haunt her every single time she so much as glanced in his direction. She couldn't stop thinking about it, and the more she told herself _not_ to think about it, the more she thought about it.

So she prayed, diligently. She visited the chapel every day at lunch. Tried to meditate at home. Went on long walks, had even started to jog in the mornings.

And _then_ she goes and does _this_. Week's worth of work undone in one reckless, passion induced moment.

Staring blindly at the TV in front of her while she ate her dinner, her heart began sinking faster and faster when she slowly started realizing that tomorrow was her consultation with Jackson to go over a surgical procedure of a patient they were supposed to be operating on together later that afternoon.

Damn it.

She had wanted to avoid him all day tomorrow if possible, especially after today, but it wasn't looking like things were working out in her favor. Things didn't really work out in her favour much this days.

* * *

Jackson had been waiting for her response for what seemed like half an hour now. But all she was doing was drumming her fingers on the desk, shifting in her chair while looking at the computer monitor in front of them, generally looking uneasy. He didn't think she had been concentrating at all on what they had been discussing. To be honest, neither had he…he had just parroted off what was on there on the documents, listing off the patient's history and trying to come up with a surgical plan without really making any effort whatsoever to do so.

They were sitting at the nurse's station, this time having decided to meet up at the most public, most professional setting they could think of, in front of almost the entire hospital staff. Neither of them had wanted to acknowledge why they had chosen such a public place. It's not like they didn't know...just, not something they wanted to bring up.

But now there was a lull in hospital activity, the nurses had all been summoned to patient rooms, and the two of them seemed to be alone. He was getting more and more antsy by the minute, one hand holding on tightly to the arm of the chair he was sitting on, getting ready to bolt because he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to sit there any longer without doing something rash.

And then she had done it again! Kissed him, tongue and all, after glancing around surreptitiously to see if they were being watched.

And _then_ , then she had got up and fled! No more discussion of surgical procedure, no excuses, no apologies, nothing but a wide-eyed glance a him and a bite of those soft lips.

What the hell was she playing at, Jackson had thought grumpily as he sat there flabbergasted, long enough until the nurses started giving him odd looks and he had had to get up awkwardly and leave.

* * *

They had just finished up the surgery, which had gone successfully, and were both scrubbing out next to each other. He could tell she was rushing things, quickly slipping out of her OR gown and gloves to start scrubbing at her hands furiously, just so she could make her getaway as quick as possible, he supposed.

He sighed loudly, rolling his eyes and gritting his teeth. He was about to lose it, he thought to himself as he scrubbed at his own hands slowly and methodically, deliberately slowing down his movements just to try and get on her nerves. By this time he had had enough of her hot-and-cold antics, and had made up his mind that however possible, he was going to purposely get in her way until she lost it completely and kissed him again. He wasn't playing the kiss-and-scram game with her anymore. If she wanted him she wanted him. Period. He wasn't a plate of treats that was freely available for anyone to nibble at whenever they wanted and then abandon completely.

Jackson, observing from the corner of his eye that April had finished scrubbing out and was about to reach for one of the towels, purposely blocked her way, grabbing the same towel for himself. He heard her huff in exasperation and gave himself a small pat in the back for managing to annoy her. And then when she moved to go to his other side to try and grab another towel, he suddenly turned around, so that they were directly face to face, and April had nowhere to look at but at him.

Now, all he had to do was wait, he thought with some satisfaction, watching as her eyes moved from his lips to his eyes, back and forth. He couldn't help but stray his gaze to her lips as well, and watched almost as if in slow motion as she leaned in, closer and closer…

And he _jus_ t had enough presence of mind to reach out his hands and grab her shoulders just as she was about to close in on the deal, stopping her in her tracks. He regretted it almost immediately afterwards, and couldn't help but stare at her lips for one second longer than necessary.

"What…" she started to say breathlessly, and he finally snapped back to the present.

"Look you've just, you've gotta stop jumping me!"

Her eyes widened.

"Well then just ask me out!"

She burst out.

And then she couldn't make eye contact. Not until he bent down to her eye level and forced her to look at him.

"What's that?" He raised an eyebrow.

She pouted, refusing to say anything.

"I thought you said that if we stayed away from each other, it'll definitely work."

He was quite enjoying this, even though he knew she must be squirming inside with embarrassment.

"Yes! Okay, I did, I said that I- that _we_ -can't do this because, because – it's –"

"It's Jesus." Jackson supplied, helpfully.

April glared.

"Yes! But, _but –"_

 _"_ Buuuut?" He prompted

She huffed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"But I mean honestly is that all you Avery's have on the brain? Have you ever not heard of taking a girl out? Dating? Like like, NOT having it all be about sex? Just -like kissing and-"

She swallowed.

"-Stuff." She finished, lamely.

She didn't want to think about what "stuff" might mean. She honestly didn't really want to think too far ahead, or think too _much_ because if she did, she knew she would talk herself out of this. But _this_ wasn't _bad_ , she was just talking about a date...or dating...which didn't have to be about sex. Because, because all things considered, she would very much like to kiss him. At length. With tongue. In a place that wasn't the hospital. That would be nice. Oh so very nice. And she was getting fed up of him making eyes at her and giving her scorching kisses every time she - well fine - every time _she_ jumped _him_ , because, let's face it, that has been the case lately.

He was staring at her again without saying anything and she was beginning to feel embarrassed.

Oh god. Had she, April Kepner actually just asked a _guy_ out? A guy who looked like _Jackson Aver_ y of all people? She must have lost her mind. How was she about to get herself out of this one? She wondered, desperately, losing all of her nerve all of a sudden.

So without even looking at him, she turned around, hoping upon hope he would just let it go.

"You know what just forget about it 'kay? I guess all you Avery's really do is just think about sex, just forget I even said-"

Jackson rolled his eyes behind April's back, amused at her sudden change of heart. He should have known the longer he waited the more she would psych herself out of whatever she had talked herself into a few seconds ago.

He reached out before she had the opportunity go very far and tugged at her hand, refusing to let get go and making her turn around, bringing her closer to his body and suddenly capturing her lips without giving himself any time to think about it.

"Just so you know, Avery's don't take kindly to false accusations."

He whispered in her ear, enjoying the way she seemed to shiver at the touch of his lips on her neck.

"We wrote the book on how to date a girl like a true gentleman. I'll pick you up at eight."

His gruff voice was low in her ear and she stood as still as a statue, eyes wide open, while he walked out looking all nonchalant, leaving her feeling weak in the knees.

 **There's more to come! So I got the "april- bulge" from Jesse's movie "cabin in the woods" where they call it the "husband bulge" lol. And I'm definitely aware this isn't my best work. in fact, it's probably the one story i put the least amount of effort into, just because i'm not feeling it right now, so i'm basically just forcing myself to write. Anyway, there's a fanfic drought so I hope this at least helps a little bit even though it's not that good!**

 **Don't let that stop you from reviewing though! :P**


	3. Chapter 3

He kissed her, her back to the door, his hand above her head effectively trapping her in place, his other hand still clasping hers.

"So.."

He whispered afterwards, his forehead touching hers.

"How'd I do?"

"Well I was actually beginning to doubt that you were a true Avery, but I guess you proved me wrong."

Her voice was husky as she blinked up at him coyly, eyes still heavy with the desire that had flared to life from that kiss.

He had wined and dined her, taken her on a moonlit stroll of a windy Seattle city, made her laugh while sensuously kissing the back of her hand just to see her blush adorably, and walked her to her door.

Only then had he taken her lips in his, looking deeply into her eyes to ask for permission before swooping down.

And then, he had politely excused himself to head home, waiting patiently by her door until she stepped inside her apartment before turning around to walk back towards his car.

That was the first date.

He had spun enchantments like silk sheets around April and she had truly and madly let herself get swept up into his magic.

0o0

They had been dating for over two months now, and every date they had, edged them closer and closer to the tipping point. He would come over and hang out at her house or she would go to his, and what starts off as innocent kissing would always turn into more, until both of them wound up incredibly frustrated, yearning for each other without really being able to do much more about it.

But last night…oh last night. Last night she hadn't been able to keep herself from climaxing while making out on the couch, and afterwards, she had lain on top of him, still feeling his hardness underneath her and feeling incredibly guilty. She had been embarrassed at first, but the arousal she had seen in his eyes and his obvious need for her as he gazed down at her in awe after she had come down from her high had wiped away any and all shame she had felt.

"God, you're hot."

He had whispered brokenly afterwards and she had apologized sweetly for his discomfort but he had only shaken his head and dropped languid kisses on her neck, shrugging it off.

But when Jackson left for home, he was feeling uneasy. He hadn't meant to make her come. They had become more and more comfortable with touching each other as they had dated, but they always made sure that no clothing items ever came off, and they had always stopped before things came to a head. But last night they had both been incredibly aroused, more so than usual. She had worn a skin tight dress that came to just above her thighs and he hadn't been able to stop touching her while at dinner. And she had been more playful than usual, letting him show affection in public without much protest, and had even initiated a few kisses in front of people. And that had turned him on even more. So when they had both arrived back home, they hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other. Rubbing against each other while making out on the couch, he had slowly massaged her nipples until a guttural moan had escaped her. Giving into the rush of pleasure that had consumed him, he had bent to take her nipples in his mouth, wetting her dress with his tongue and nipping the buds lightly through the material to maximise her pleasure. He had underestimated her sensitivity to his touch though, and her sudden climax as he suckled at her breast over her dress had shocked them both. He had kissed her hungrily while she orgasmed, both surprised and gratified at her receptiveness to his touch, and he couldn't remember a moment in his life where he had been more turned on.

But now, he was kicking himself for it, even though in the moment it had given him incredible pleasure to satisfy her. But knowing that she must be regretting it did not sit well with him at all, and he had no idea what kind of effect this would have on their relationship. He didn't want her pulling back from him now. He wanted this to work. And he was an Avery, he had promised himself that he was going to control his urges, let her take the reigns, have their physical relationship at least, happen on her terms. And he had told himself that he could wait, that he would actually like to wait, for her, if they were both serious about this.

But that was exactly it. He had no idea where they stood, relationship wise. They had never discussed it. She was intoxicating, and every moment they spent together he was falling for her more and more. He was acutely aware of how fast things were moving with them, but he wasn't sure that she was even aware that this was fast. She didn't have much experience, so he had no idea which stage she was at even though he was aware of his feelings, and how quickly they were developing. Not knowing if she was on the same page though, was killing him.

0o0

The next date they had, he stopped at her door.

"I don't think I should come in today." He said swallowing.

She blinked up at him while biting her lip, knowing that this must be about what had happened on their last date, but unable to figure out how to address it delicately. That one moment, that one missed step they had both been too careless to prevent, had managed to render their relationship fragile, had somehow managed to be the trigger that might erupt a volcano bubbling with emotional lava.

"Why?" she finally asked shakily, afraid to say too little, afraid to say too much.

"You want me to be a gentleman, I'm being a gentleman."

Was his reply, said with a bowed head and a quiet hardness to a normally gentle voice.

"Okay." She whispered.

Afraid to say too little, afraid to say too much.

"Maybe sometimes, sometimes I wish you weren't such a gentleman." Her whispered breath came out in sad foggy coils into the cold Seattle air, blurring the vision of a tall figure walking away from her towards his car, disappearing into the night.

She did not see his clenched fists, nor his hardened jawline, and as he drove away from her, his own vision blurred as he furiously blinked, but it wasn't because of the Seattle fog.

0o0

He was shutting down from her and withdrawing into himself. She could feel it. Things had taken a turn very very quickly, done a complete 180, Jackson's nature changing from eager and happy to dark and withdrawn in a matter of days. They still went on dates, he still asked her out, but his tone was clipped, his mannerisms detached, he appeared indifferent in conversations, and had become aloof. She was only able to draw his affection by kissing him tenderly whenever he let her, and in those moments he melted, became softer, pulled at her heartstrings by being vulnerable to his yearning. But those moments were few and far between, moments where his need for her managed to flood his self control enough for him to seek out her affection, to give her any in return.

And she was tired.

So she went looking for him, determined to not shy away this time, determined to talk to him. She finally found him in the attending's lounge, looking characteristically dark and brooding, getting mad at a broken coffee machine with a half full mug in his hand.

"Hey."

She said, unsure of how to begin.

"Hey."

Wow he sure was very wordy today. April almost rolled her eyes.

Not only was she tired of the state of their relationship but his attitude was also beginning irritate her beyond belief. He wasn't verbalizing what was on his mind, wouldn't initiate conversation, keeps her in the dark and was sulking all by himself.

He was a cute sulker though.

Let's face it, Jackson Avery was physically unable to look anything but attractive at any given moment, regardless of what he was doing, but this was ridiculous.

"So, can we talk? You know, about what exactly I said, or did, that's bothering you?"

"Nothing to talk about. You haven't done anything."

Talking to the coffee machine while trying to shake the living daylights out of it, she observed.

"Jackson."

She said patiently.

The coffee machine rattled.

"Jackson?"

Another rattle, and then came a thud as he gave it a good whack.

Her eyes widened.

"Jackson!"

She watched as he pressed a few buttons, putting his coffee mug to the side and swearing under his breath as he rattled the damn machine again.

She marched over to him, rage suddenly and inexplicably overcoming her as she attacked him, tiny fists grabbing at his lab coat and landing punches at his chest he probably didn't even feel.

"You. Are. Not. Being fair to me!"

Jackson stood there letting her attack him, complete surprise rendering him motionless for a couple seconds, before he grabbed at her fists and stopped her erratic motions.

"I'm not being fair to you? Really?" His words came out sounding bitter, his voice strained and loud.

"Yes!"

"Really?" He bit out. "Because you're the one who's not-"

He stopped himself.

"What?" April was practically yelling now, all the frustrations she had built up inside during the past two weeks was finally getting to her, and she was letting it fly.

"Ready! You're not ready! April. And I am. I'm ready."

"You- I - what?"

"Yeah that's what I thought." The bitterness was seeping into his voice again, and he let it.

April was taken completely by surprise, and to be honest he had kind of just taken her breath away. Did the man actually just say that he was ready? As in ready to - ready to- she couldn't even formulate the thought in her mind.

He turned to go, a defeated look on his face.

"Wait! Wait! Jackson, you- just - wait OK?"

She took a deep breath.

"You -you can't just drop that on me and just walk, that's not –"

She paused, searching for the right words.

Oh God. Whatever she said to him right now was going to have to be good because she knew he was ready to bolt. Just one step out of line and he'd walk away. And it might be for good. He had just bared his heart to her, and she knew that wasn't easy. Not for him.

Especially him. Jackson Avery was a man of few words. He didn't wear his heart out on his sleeve. That was her. She was easy to read, she could never mask her emotions - that's why he was so quick to jump to conclusions about her actions all the time. And most of the time he was right, because she wasn't good at hiding things. But him, he was different, he took pride in his tough exterior. At showing the world that nothing really moved him much.

But he had revealed this to her and that was big. One wrong move could blow his ego and he'd up and leave.

"Jackson..."

It came out in a whisper. She went up to him and took his hands.

"I um-"

She kissed him. Impulsively. And was happy when his hands encircled her waist.

"I- I'm not good at this stuff, ok..." she started, shakily.

"I've never been in a relationship...you're kinda my first, everything."

She bit her lip and watched wryly as he smirked slightly.

"So...yes some things - I just, I'm a newbie and its gonna look like I'm not ready you know, with all this couply stuff…"

"Couply stuff?" he murmured, his eyes on her lips.

"Yes."

She licked her lips subconsciously and his hands tightened on her waist, gently squeezing her sides.

"But, but that doesn't mean that - that –"

"That what?" He whispered

"That I'm not in love with you."

Her voice was barely audible and she hadn't planned this at all but it was happening and she wasn't stopping it.

She did love him. Really _was_ in love with him, no way around that. She might not know much but she knew that much. She didn't know when it happened, maybe that first night, when he had worshipped her body, maybe while she was in Moline, thoughts of him never escaping her mind, maybe these last few months, before it had all gone to hell.

She looked up at him, heart swollen, eyes wet, scared out of her mind that he might reject her.

"Say that again…" his voice sounded hoarse.

She shook her head, quickly glancing at him and looking away.

"No?" He coaxed, gentle.

She pouted.

"I said I'm in love with you."

This time she looked him straight in the eyes, voce strong.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She steadily held his gaze as he gazed back down at her, gratitude shining in his eyes, completely enamoured. God, she had done what he hadn't had the courage to do. He had withdrawn, tried to protect himself from feeling too much, while April, with all her inexperience, had put herself out there, willingly letting herself be vulnerable to pain.

Words couldn't describe how much he had fallen for this woman.

"Good thing I'm in love with you then."

He got out finally, swallowing what felt like a huge lump in his throat.

She smiled then, radiant, looking up at him.

"Yeah?" She giggled and he kissed her, a rush of love for her overcoming him, sweeping her off her feet and making her squeal.

"Wait, wait!" She gasped, breaking the kiss.

"What?" his eyes were hooded, focused on her lips, hungrily looking at them as if they might disappear.

"When you say you're ready does that mean, does that mean…"

"Means I'm going to marry you and then…"

"And then…" She whispered, ignoring her fast beating heart and gazing deep into those green orbs, mouth swollen and wet with his kisses.

"And then I'm gonna make you come like you've never come before."

He whispered raggedly in her ear, and she swallowed thickly, a rush of arousal sweeping through her and tightening her legs around his waist as he picked her up again.

"I can't wait."

She muttered devilishly in his ear and he growled, playfully biting her ear as she whispered that she loved him even more emphatically than before.

Fin

 **Sorry for the delay in updating, was running around looking for apartments 'cuz I'm moving in September, and things have just calmed down a bit. Thankfully had most of the dialogue and the "skeleton" of the story written before so I just basically had to fill in some blanks! Hope everyone enjoyed this little ficlet. Makes me yearn for the season 9 sexy times.**

 **Sigh.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me whether you enjoyed the overall ending and whether it was true to their s9 characters! 3**


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